


Shut Your Mouth, Commander

by jedirangerpenguin



Series: Immortals - A Shepard and Anderson Series [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25296904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedirangerpenguin/pseuds/jedirangerpenguin
Summary: Or, three times Anderson realized Shepard's biggest problem was herself.---“Mm.” Anderson leaned back in his chair. “So the famous Commander Shepard speaks her mind, pisses off her Captain, and gets bounced around until the Alliance can find someone who can keep her ass in line?”Her lip quirked up again. “Something like that.”“Well, then, you’re in luck.”Shepard’s eyebrow raised. “Sir?”
Relationships: David Anderson & Shepard
Series: Immortals - A Shepard and Anderson Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2004064
Comments: 23
Kudos: 12





	1. SR-1

Anderson sat at his desk, scrolling through the list of personnel recommendations. Even though the Normandy could run with a much smaller crew than a standard vessel of its size, the list of positions he still had to fill was longer than he wanted it to be.

A voice came over his comm. “Captain, Commander Shepard has arrived.”

“Thank you,” Anderson replied. He pulled himself from his chair and went to open the door.

In the hall in front of him was a young woman, barely 30, with short brown hair and vibrant green eyes. He’d seen the commander in vids, recruitment ads, but he’d never set eyes on her in person before. She was shorter than she looked in the ads, and was peering intently at one of the pictures he had on the wall. She didn’t seem to notice him. 

“Commander,” he said, loudly enough to get her attention. Shepard blinked at the sudden voice, but calmly turned and saluted, evidently not the least bit embarrassed at having been caught scrutinizing his decor. 

Anderson had to suppress a smile. 

“Captain,” Shepard responded. Anderson gave a nod and she dropped her salute. 

“Name’s Anderson,” he said, though the look on her face said she knew exactly who he was. He offered a hand, which she shook. 

“Shepard.”

“Nice to meet you in person. Damn impressive, what you did on Elysium.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Come on in, have a seat.”

The pair walked into his office. Anderson walked back around to sit behind his desk as Shepard settled into the chair in front of it.

“I’ve been looking through your record, Shepard,” Anderson started as they sat. “Impressive as hell, and _long_ as hell. Must have taken me five minutes just to read the names of every ship you’ve served on.”

“Sounds about right, sir.”

“Why?”

“Sir?”

Anderson studied her for a moment. Her face hadn’t budged in the short time they’d been talking. “Someone with your record, your skills--you should be able to practically pick your favorite posting and stay there as long as you like. So what the hell is it that keeps you bouncing from ship to ship?”

There, a reaction. Almost. A faint trace of a smile popped up on her face, and he swore something in her eyes twinkled. “Each reassignment was considered ‘beneficial for everyone,’ sir,” she replied, voice betraying almost nothing. Anderson grunted.

“Usually that’s code for ‘got in one too many fistfights,’ but your record’s clean. What’s really going on?”

Shepard’s small smile spread. She looked... amused. “May I ask why you need to know this, sir?”

The probing tone in her voice was faint, but it was there. Anderson knew when he was being tested. And he was pretty sure he knew what answer Shepard was looking for. “You may not,” he replied firmly, and he saw the smile on her face spread further. “You may, however, answer my goddamn question.”

“I’ve had some trouble meshing with my C.O.s.” Her light tone betrayed exactly what she meant.

“Smart mouth?”

“Some might say, sir.”

“Mm.” Anderson leaned back in his chair. “So the famous Commander Shepard speaks her mind, pisses off her Captain, and gets bounced around until the Alliance can find someone who can keep her ass in line?”

Her lip quirked up again. “Something like that.”

“Well, then, you’re in luck.”

Shepard’s eyebrow raised. “Sir?”

“I’ve just been given command of a prototype frigate. Top-of-the-line, cutting edge, one-of-a-kind. Obviously. And I find myself needing an X.O..”

Anderson watched the comprehension dawn in Shepard’s eyes, and the calm veneer vanish from her face. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel a certain satisfaction at finally producing a real reaction. Shepard just managed to catch her jaw before it dropped. “What?”

No ‘sir,’ either. He smiled. “Which word did you not understand, Commander?”

“I understood the words, sir.”

“Then what’s your question?”

“Why me?”

“You heard how I described that ship, didn’t you? I need an X.O. who matches up. And _you_ need a C.O. who can handle you.”

Shepard kept her smile from becoming a grin, barely. But the walls were coming down fast. “You’re up for that challenge, Captain?” she asked, and there was teasing in her voice.

“Shepard.” Anderson allowed himself a bit of a smirk. “You may be an N7, but don’t you go forgetting who was the first.”

Shepard did grin that time. “Understood, sir.”

“So I’m taking that as a yes?”

“Absolutely.”

“Glad to hear it.” Anderson stood, prompting Shepard to follow suit, and shook her hand across the desk. “I’m looking forward to hearing your opinions about every tiny thing.”

Shepard grinned again. “Should I start with that picture in the hall, sir?”

“Get the hell out of my office, Shepard.”

She laughed. “Yes sir.”


	2. SR-2

The Council was saying something, but Anderson stopped listening as the door opened. When Shepard walked in, with new, glowing scars, but the same fire in her eyes, he realized he hadn’t been prepared to actually see her alive.

But Shepard walked right up, taking it in stride the way she did with everything. She pulled him into an embrace, then turned when she heard the Council speak.

Immediately, Anderson wished he’d had time to talk to Shepard beforehand. Of _course_ the councilors had to bring up Saren, and he wanted to keep her from-

“Saren wasn’t the one commanding the geth. It was the reaper, Sovereign.”

That. 

He quickly tried to talk her down, to get her to stop, but Shepard wasn’t known for her willingness to walk away from a fight. She plowed ahead, throwing out every argument and scrap of evidence she could muster, all of which the Council ignored.

He could feel Shepard’s blood pressure rising when the Council offered an olive branch, or something like it. Spectre reinstatement. But of course, rather than accepting it and moving on, Anderson was left pinching between his eyes and groaning as she told the Council to go fuck themselves. 

_Only_ Shepard.

He gave himself until the holograms had faded to steady his voice. “Well, that could have gone better.”

“Sorry, Anderson, but what did you expect?! I need people who are gonna work with me, not disregard everything I say.”

“Like you just did with me?” Anderson asked tiredly, though they both knew he didn’t really mean it.

“You know how important this is. I mean, fuck, I’ve been gone for two years?? Who knows what the hell the Reapers have been doing in that time!”

“Shepard, I get it. But you’re not going to get yourself allies while you’re working with Cerber-”

“If I could get fucking allies, I wouldn’t _need_ to be working with Cerberus.”

“I know.”

The tension in Shepard’s shoulders dropped slightly. With the Council gone, some of the adrenaline was going out of her. “I’m sorry I can’t do more,” Anderson said, as gently as Shepard would have allowed without getting on his case. “The Alliance-”

“It’s not your fault,” Shepard replied. “I’m glad you’re still here.”

“I’ve always got your back, Shepard. But you could have made life a lot easier on yourself if you’d been a little nicer to the Council.”

Shepard finally cracked a small smile. “When have I ever made life easier on myself?”

She’d never spoken truer words in her goddamn life. “I’m really starting to think you won’t be able to function without a galaxy-sized problem to solve.”

“Probably not.” Shepard sighed, clearly calming down. “It really is good to see you, though.”

“You too, Shepard.”

“Give me a couple weeks to go blow up this Collector problem, and then we can catch up for real.”

“Couple weeks, mm?”

“Maybe a month.”

Anderson couldn’t help a laugh. She was nothing if not the boldest person he’d ever met. “I’m looking forward to it.”


	3. House Arrest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I played the trilogy twice without any DLC, and had always assumed Shepard was just on trial for her work with Cerberus, so I took that route here.

Anderson held a hand up as they approached the door. “Stay back until I tell you, son.”

Vega frowned, confused. “But I thought...”

“Trust me. Stay back.” Anderson unlocked and opened the door.

Shepard was out the door like a bullet. She barely seemed to notice the cuffs around her wrists. She barely seemed to notice _him._ Anderson quickly walked after her, with a nod for Vega to follow them.

“Shepard,” Anderson said calmly as he closed the short distance.

“Anderson.”

“Dare I ask how you’re feeling?”

“This is ridiculous.” Shepard instantly started pouring out every thought. It was like they’d only seen each other yesterday. “I can’t believe this. Not to be dramatic, but I deserve better. I’ve done every single thing the Alliance has ever asked, and this is how they repay me? Sorry,” Shepard added quickly. “I know you got fucked by the Council, and you deserved way better than that, it’s just- the Council have always been self-important assholes. I never expected any better from them. I _did_ expect better from the Alliance.”

“Unfortunately, a lot of times it’s the best people that get undersold,” Anderson replied. It was too easy to go right to talking like old friends. “Not to make myself sound too important, but-"

“But you’re fucking right. What more do they want from me? I saved Elysium, saved the Citadel, saved humanity’s colonization of space; what else could they _possibly_ want?”

“They want you to not have Cerberus ties,” Anderson said with a bit of a grim smile. 

“Well fuck, that’s what I want too! But the Alliance didn’t give me much of a choice!”

“I know.”

“Fucking fuck.”

Shepard continued barreling ahead. Anderson wondered if she knew where they were going. “Shepard? You planning on slowing down?”

“Nope.”

“Then just where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“To find whoever’s in charge of this damn trial.”

“Shepard.”

“You know I have to. “

“You _don’t_ have to.”

“The Alliance _put_ me in this position, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna sit by and let them put me on trial for what _they_ forced me to do.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“You shouldn’t _need_ to take care of it! None of this should be _happening!_ If anyone in this damned navy would stop and just fucking _listen_ -”

“Shepard!” Anderson reached out and grabbed Shepard’s arm, gruffly pulling her to a stop. “Don’t you get it? You. _Have._ To stop! The only thing that’s _ever_ held you back is your damn mouth. And if you don’t figure out how to shut it now, it’s gonna do a lot more than that. I know you have trouble giving up the reins, but for once in your life,” Anderson slowed, speaking each word deliberately, “let me be your goddamn commanding officer. Let me _handle_ it.”

Shepard made eye contact for the first time since they’d picked her up. The fight was still there. It was always there, burning in her eyes. But behind it he finally saw the hurt, the betrayal. Despite her mouth, no one had ever jumped to the Alliance’s need faster or more consistently than Shepard had. He knew she didn’t deserve this. 

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Anderson fought to keep his face steady as he watched the fight slowly trickle out. Shepard’s shoulders sagged, and he saw tears brimming in her eyes as she stared at him. He never thought he’d see the day he saw Shepard cry. But he’d also never thought he’d see the day Shepard was put on trial. 

“You promise?”

Shepard’s voice shook, another thing he’d never heard before. The eyes that found his now were scared, pleading, almost like...

“I promise, child.”


End file.
